<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Face Underneath The Mask by TooManyBooksToRead</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688869">The Face Underneath The Mask</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyBooksToRead/pseuds/TooManyBooksToRead'>TooManyBooksToRead</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fake Maes AU [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, once again</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:00:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688869</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyBooksToRead/pseuds/TooManyBooksToRead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in the underground beneath Central Command the Elric brothers are escorted to a meeting with Fuhrer King Bradley.</p><p>It unfortunately leaves them with more questions than answers</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Envy/Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes/Roy Mustang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fake Maes AU [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Face Underneath The Mask</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They followed Envy as it led them through Central Command, wearing Hughes’ skin. Their trip was slow as they had to stop every few minutes to greet other people and make small talk with other officers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Envy made a good impression of Hughes. To anyone who didn’t know him personally, this would be more than enough to be fooled, but Ed knew better now, and he was looking out for the discrepancies – the flashes of Envy beneath the frighteningly accurate Hughes persona.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that he knew to look for it, Ed could spot the underlying current of annoyance in its pace, the slightest strain on the smile that Hughes had worn so naturally before – but had that been Hughes or had it been Envy’s copy on a better day?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a stop at the showers, it led them back to the labyrinthine halls, weaving through people and corridors as they went further into the heart of the military complex.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, they stopped in a hallway that looked like all the others, clean-cut and uniform like all military facilities. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wrath is in here,” it said, opening a set of double doors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wrath?” He’d barely had any time to reconcile the idea of another Homonculus infiltrating Central Command when he had to take in the scene inside the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a table set with cups of tea and sitting around that table where Fuhrer King Bradley and Colonel Mustang. And wasn’t this a fucking surprise, because when they’d stayed behind to fight Gluttony, he had expected Mustang to enact some elaborate subterfuge plan to get Fuher Bradley out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But if Mustang was here, then things up here had gone as fucking wrong as they had down there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “A lot has happened,” Mustang said. Edward bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue and stayed silent so he could continue. “Sergeant Fuery was sent south, Warrant Officer Falman north, and Lieutenant Breda to the west. Lieutenant Hawkeye is now the Fuhrer's personal assistant.” There was steel in his eyes as he went through where his men had been shipped off to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Behind them, Envy came in and shut the door, leaning against it. The click of the lock was ominously in time with the end of Mustang’s speech. “What is this? They’re as good as hostages!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of answering, Fuhrer Bradley ordered them to take a seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Al, Mustang and him against the Fuhrer and Envy. He did not like their fucking chances right now. Even if he was armed only with a sword, the Fuhrer looked absolutely confident in his ability to take them all down and that was all without counting on Envy as his reinforcements.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can take it from here,” he said, looking at Envy by the door instead of addressing them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Envy snorted. “You’re no fun, Wrath,” it said, walking up to the table and leaning uncomfortably close to Mustang. “The pipsqueak knows, anyway, so it isn’t like it’s gonna be secret for much longer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang’s face was inscrutable despite Envy – Hughes, he must’ve thought it was Hughes – pressing itself to his left side. Across from them, he thought he saw Bradley’s face scrunch up in irritation, but it didn’t send Envy away. That was interesting, but he’d think about it later. Right now, there were other more pressing matters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is this, Roy, that’s no way to greet a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dear friend</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” it stressed the last words differently, like it was trying to send Mustang a message he wouldn’t get and proceeded to sprawl itself across his lap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang remained inscrutable to him, but before he could pursue whatever that had been, the girl hiding inside Al’s armour coughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed raced to make a diversion while Al tried to cover up the sound. It was easy to spit venom at Bradley, to make the anger slip through to the surface. That anger only grew when Bradley threw back his orders at them, telling them that if they stayed quiet and seated like good little lapdogs, they’d have nothing to worry about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beside him, Mustang was as quiet as the grave and Envy still hung onto him, relentlessly invading his personal space and doing its fair best to get him to crack. Tough luck for the bastard, because Ed had been trying to make the bastard’s politics mask crack for years with no success.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t need to know anything more, Fullmetal Alchemist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, but I do need to know more. Like where the hell the real Maes Hughes is.” That finally got a reaction out of Mustang. The man stiffened like a board and he only seemed to grow pale as Envy started to laugh and moved from laying on his lap to laying its head on his shoulder while using the side of his body as support.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the red light flickered over the room, leaving Envy and its stupid palm tree hair where Hughes had been just a second ago. Mustang barely even moved a muscle, only using a hand to shield his eyes from the light.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not the reaction I expected, but definitely worth it. You’re so </span>
  <em>
    <span>sensitive</span>
  </em>
  <span> Flame,” it said, finally dislodging itself from Mustang so it could turn around look at him. “So what gave it away?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, then, Mustang unfroze, dropping his cool-and-collected facade for the first time since he entered the room. He made direct eye contact and with a completely straight face said, “You kiss like a dead fish.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell?” Ed short circuited, hundreds of equally horrifying, yet invasive, questions running through the forefront of his mind as he forced himself to not react – clearly he was failing at </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> since Mustang had that vaguely amused look in his eyes and Envy had devolved back to cackling – while his brain put the pieces together. Mustang and Hughes. Mustang and Hughes</span>
  <em>
    <span> together</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Envy had been playing at being Maes for months, at the very least and </span>
  <em>
    <span>why the hell did Mustang know what a dead fish would kiss like</span>
  </em>
  <span>? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He forced himself to shelve that disturbing revelation – along with just how fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>far</span>
  </em>
  <span> had that thing gotten before Mustang caught on and wasn't Hughes happily </span>
  <em>
    <span>married </span>
  </em>
  <span> – for later. Or never. Never actually seemed like a great time to address this, because that was way more information than he’d ever wanted about Mustang’s sex life. Was this what Envy had been talking about before? Was this fucking monster enjoying as it destroyed Hughes’ life?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't have time for this. He needed to focus on the two very dangerous Homunculi.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ugh, I hated doing that. You humans are so disgusting.” It leaned its upper body on the table and looked at Mustang with that predatory grin on its face. “But it’s been worth it. He always gets so distressed when he hears I’ve done something to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradley was giving Envy a look, and Ed was familiar with that kind of look and the exasperation that came with it. He was a master at putting that look on other people’s faces, after all, but Envy was unphased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But that wasn’t an actual answer,” it said with a frown. “You know, you should be grateful. If Wrath hadn’t told us you were a candidate for sacrifice, you’d be dying right now. Painfully,” it added, returning to the viciously angry tone he’d heard when they were in Gluttony’s stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Envy, that’s enough,” Bradley said, making the other Homunculi scoff. “I will only repeat this once; you don’t need to know anything more, Fullmetal Alchemist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fullmetal Alchemist, huh?” He pulled his pocket watch out so he could look at it properly. “I chose the path of becoming a dog of the military to get my original body back. However, the whole State Alchemist system itself is probably just something to select sacrifices with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked up from the bloody watch, keeping his eyes pinned on Bradley. “If you’re going to be using me for something even worse…” he tossed the watch across the table so it landed in front of Bradley, “then I quit as a State Alchemist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradly looked down at the silver watch. “Your token as a dog is covered with blood.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will upset your schemes, no matter what they are,” he continued resolutely. “I will spread the word to the other alchemists, and then –”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that girl’s name again? Ah, yes, Winry Rockbell.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A chill went through his spine and somewhere outside of his head, he was sure Envy had started cackling again, but all he could think about was Winry, fresh to the world and making a life for herself out there. Winry, who was full of life and who lived to create, snuffed out before she could really begin to live.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With no regard for the panic spreading in Ed’s mind, Bradley continued, “Born in Resembool, a childhood friend of yours, and like family to you. A skilled automail engineer. She currently works in Rush Valley, where she is well favoured by both her customers and companions. A nice, unassuming girl.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was livid, almost kicking the chair down when he stood up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You keep away from her! And everyone else around her!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradley tapped the watch in front of him meaningfully. “So, what will it be?” he asked, sliding it back across the table so it was within his reach. “If you don’t want it, I will cut her down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed grabbed the watch and pocketed it before sitting back down, the echoes of Envy’s laughter still resonating around the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you had it in you, Wrath! Although,” it said glancing at Mustang, “you’ve certainly shown yourself capable of coming up with entertaining ideas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang – apart from the moment when Envy had revealed itself – had yet to say a word about any of this and that was pissing him off. A lot of things are pissing him off today, but that wasn’t the point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed stewed in his thoughts while Al secured them the right to keep going on their journey to recover their bodies. He didn’t like any of this shit. Whatever the hell they were sacrifices for was something big and destructive, that much he could tell. He didn’t like this, didn’t like not knowing, didn’t like being unable to do anything about it, and he didn’t like the radio silence from Mustang either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradley apparently agreed with him, because he pinned Mustang with his piercing gaze. “What will you do, Colonel Mustang? You’re not going to tell me you’re quitting the military, are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang drew a hand to his face like he was pretending to think about something and if this had been any other situation, this was about the point where he’d lose it and yell at him. “Well, let’s see. I may be a kept dog now, but I couldn’t bear to become a beaten dog. Moreover, right now, I still have my ambitions, so I can’t take off this uniform, or get rid of this.” He punctuated his statement by dangling his pocket watch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradley looked like he was about to say something, but Envy cut in before he could, “What a loyal mutt. Do remember that disobedient dogs get punished.” It then shifted back into Hughes, the change seamless yet unnerving. “It’s so good to finally be working in the same city, Roy!” While the voice and the tone were unmistakably Hughes’, there was something just </span>
  <em>
    <span>off</span>
  </em>
  <span> about it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang didn’t grace it with a response apart from a subtle nod, turning his attention back to Bradley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very well. You are all dismissed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once they’d all stood up and given their backs to Bradley, Mustang finally spoke, “May I ask you one question, Your Excellency?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it, Colonel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going to happen to Hughes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As long as you stay in line, there will be no need to ask that question, Colonel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And his family?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at Bradley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bradley looked unfazed. “I agreed to one question.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Envy, apparently, had no such reservations. “Ah, don’t you worry, Roy, I’ll take good care of them.” The words were at odds with the spiteful look on its face. “I have to pay you back for Lust, after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mustang excused himself and started walking towards the door when Bradley asked Al to stop. Ed froze when he saw his hand on the hilt of his sword, convinced he was about to stab the blade through the blood seal, just like Envy had done at the Fifth Laboratory.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, he stabbed it through the leather padding on the side of the chestplate and pulled it out to inspect. Apparently satisfied with his inspection, he sheathed the weapon and dismissed them again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They walked through the door with Envy tailing them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed kind of wanted to break down a bit. He was filled with stress and pent up energy and he needed to release it all, but he wasn’t gonna do it in front of Envy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, he asked the colonel for his spare change, the familiar banter allowing him to relax.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Roy, why don’t we go have lunch together? For old times sake!” Envy asked once the door shut behind it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure. Should we invite Lieutenant Hawkeye?” Roy asked in turn, turning his back to him and Al.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was giving them an out, a reasonable excuse so they didn't have to spend time with Envy by putting himself in between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I was thinking about it being just you and me. Like we were back at the Academy.” It was Hughes’ grin on its face, but it also wasn’t, even if Ed couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ed waited until Mustang nodded and started to head off with the impostor, he didn’t want to leave him alone with that monster – even less if half the pieces he’d put together fit like he thought they did – but Mustang had been doing this for months, </span>
  <em>
    <span>apparently</span>
  </em>
  <span>. What was a single day more?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, he had a call to make.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not quite sure I'm pinning Ed's voice yet though I sure have fun writing it. As always this is Crissy's fault and I love it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>